Relationship between manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSODAla-9Val) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx1 Pro 197 Leu) gene polymorphisms and alopecia areata.

OBJECTIVE: The role of the oxidative stress in alopecia areata (AA) has been studied by several researchers in a few studies with conflicting results. These results suggested that lipid peroxidation and alterations in the oxidant-antioxidant enzymatic system may play a role in the pathogenesis of AA. Therefore, we aimed to examine the possible associations between the MnSOD Ala-9Val and GPx1 Pro 198 Leu polymorphisms and AA susceptibility and disease progression in Turkish population.
METHODS: The study group consisted of 119 unrelated patients with AA and 104 unrelated healthy controls with no scalp lesions in their personal history or on clinical examination. Genotyping was performed to identify MnSOD Ala-9Val and GPx1 Pro 198 Leu polymorphisms by a method based on PCR amplification and detection of polymorphisms with hybridization probes labeled with fluorescent dyes. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared between patients with AA and healthy control subjects.
RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the MnSOD Ala-9Val SNP genotype distributions and allele frequencies of the AA patients and the control group (P=0.168 and P=0.820, respectively). There was not any association between clinical and demographical features of the study patients with AA and MnSOD Ala-9Val and GPx1 Pro 198 Leu polymorphism genotypes except gender.
CONCLUSIONS: This study is unique since an investigation to reveal the possible associations between the MnSOD Ala-9Val and GPx1 Pro 198 Leu polymorphisms and AA susceptibility and in Turkish population.